Players are, and will, simply move elsewhere, and owners can discover that they're not the reason that tickets are sold.

As much as I love the sport, this league deserves to tank. Hard.

To be fair, Bettman only needs 8 owners for it to be declared a majority. In short, it's most likely the owner of Phoenix (Bettman himself!) Columbus, Islanders, Blues, and four other shitty owners (welfare billionaires?) who are holding the game hostage. New Jersey's probably in there too for kovirupting themselves. <_<

I heard Rick Nash had a hat trick in his first PERIOD of his first SEL game. All assisted by Joe Thorton. NHL guys are a bit out of the Euro's league I think, I was gonna check it out too but then realized it'd prob just be like the Harlem Globetrotters.

I heard Rick Nash had a hat trick in his first PERIOD of his first SEL game. All assisted by Joe Thorton. NHL guys are a bit out of the Euro's league I think, I was gonna check it out too but then realized it'd prob just be like the Harlem Globetrotters.

Thing is though, he doesn't play in the SEL. It's just north American Media who can't tell the difference between Sweden and Switzerland... again.

Had to do one of the saddest things as a Hockey fan. Return my NHL tickets...

No seeing a live game this year... Sigh thanks NHL. Hopefully Detroit play in Buffalo next season.

Yes hopefully they will because they will be in the same division. Assuming Phoenix is stable with an actual owner if they finally get the lockout solved, the NHL still has to move Columbus or Detroit to the East.

Yes hopefully they will because they will be in the same division. Assuming Phoenix is stable with an actual owner if they finally get the lockout solved, the NHL still has to move Columbus or Detroit to the East.

God I hope that happens.

You can tell WoW changed the MMO for good when players started complaining about the amount of time they sink, into a time sink.

the player are hypocrites.. we don't want to play for less.. sign a contract in Europe to play for less

It's the alternative. They don't want to play for less in the best hockey league in the world, and other leagues don't pay as well unless you came out of the KHL or became a super star in the NHL. It seems like the KHL wants to poach our best players. I doubt most of the guys playing in the Swiss League are making millions of dollars a season.

Also, the insurance pay they would have to pay is pretty hefty. 4% of the remaining contract total is to be paid per month for just the insurance.
To make it simple, let's say someone has a 100 M USD contract over a 15 year period, or 6.67M USD per year.
The insurance would, however, cost the teams 4M USD per month, in just insurance. That's more than some clubs entire playerbudget for a whole year.

I doubt that the clubs would have much left over to pay the players. As for the players? They might be bored and want to "play" hockey. Toy with the lesser leagues.
And not all players playing in Europe are, like, the money hungry ones.
Also, some of the older guys, if this season crashes, well, they'll never play hockey again. They'd be too old. Like Alfie.
Also. If I'd be them, I'd rather keep up actually playing and working out rather than, you know, Byfuglien.

I doubt that the clubs would have much left over to pay the players. As for the players? They might be bored and want to "play" hockey. Toy with the lesser leagues.
And not all players playing in Europe are, like, the money hungry ones.

Pretty much this. From a German point of view Giroux and Briere signed in Berlin, one of the top contenders and the current champions of the DEL. But Simmons, D'Agostini and Stewart signed for some minor league German teams of which I've never even heard the name of the town. Like ridiculous villages somewhere deep in the Black Forest or rural Saxony...

It's the alternative. They don't want to play for less in the best hockey league in the world, and other leagues don't pay as well unless you came out of the KHL or became a super star in the NHL. It seems like the KHL wants to poach our best players. I doubt most of the guys playing in the Swiss League are making millions of dollars a season.

i think you just confirmed my point.. even losing a little bit.. they still are hypocrites.. in the sense they say they won't take less to play.. but are.

i think you just confirmed my point.. even losing a little bit.. they still are hypocrites.. in the sense they say they won't take less to play.. but are.

A fair few of these guys aren't playing for less. Sure maybe some guys in the SEL and German leagues, but the guys in the KHL are making comparable or more money. Malkin is making an absolute shit ton of money to play in the KHL this year.

The players have every right to negotiate how much they want to be paid in the premiere league in the world. Just because they are getting paid 75% of what they make in the NHL doesn't mean they should play for that in the NHL and let the owners keep the rest.

Pretty much. The NHL is the elite league in all of hockey, players are obviously going to get more because they are playing in the best league in the world. It's like players in the English Premiership League getting paid more then players in MLS here in North America, better league, better money. Sure, you can make the argument that the best players are getting paid too much while the average guy is underpaid by comparison, but that is owners doing what they do best by paying the super stars the most money.

Malkin is getting paid a shit ton to play in the KHL because he is an elite player at every level, Crosby would get the same kind of pay in the KHL, and so would every other top tier player from the NHL. They wouldn't get that kind of money in other European leagues because those leagues aren't as big in terms of popularity, or their rules are different when it comes to salaries and things. The Swedish Elite League is the #2 European hockey league, and probably the 3rd best league for hockey in the world in terms of player quality production and overall skill level. From what I understand too, the KHL has some very questionable ethics when it comes to their players.